Firestorm Armada 3.0 Designer Feedback Thread

[Aetius88 12]

@Spartan Derek any news of the beta testing, or one advance of any definitive critical rule? thanks!

[murphy'slawofcombat 130]

On 5/19/2017 at 9:19 AM, Frans said:

Precise movement is the foundation beneath FA, and you can't have precise movement without an accurate turn measuring devise.

Which doesn't mean the current turn template isn't a piece of ****...

YES, I just got the Terran Dinzi battle box set and the clear plastic TP is a piece of s... SLIM THE BLOODY THING DOWN!!!!!! it is worse that that cardboard garbage they gave us in V1, 1.5 and 2

[Flamebeast 169]

Is it not worrying that nothing has been posted in this thread in 4 days? Or that @Spartan Derek hasn't posted in this topic in 16 days, despite saying he'd be providing a minimum of weekly responses?

[Kaptyn Krys 545]

Derek is on hols currently. Toy soldiers take a back seat to real life.

[Zephyr Station 141]

2 hours ago, Kaptyn Krys said:

Derek is on hols currently. Toy soldiers take a back seat to real life.

It's not so much as a back seat as the significant other usually out-ranks us.

[Frans 776]

On 27-5-2017 at 10:36 PM, Kaptyn Krys said:

Derek is on hols currently. Toy soldiers take a back seat to real life.

Antarctica?

Central Borneo?

Gobi desert?

[Kaptyn Krys 545]

19 hours ago, Frans said:

Antarctica?

Central Borneo?

Gobi desert?

Cold,

Warm,

Warmer?

[Flamebeast 169]

At least the Gobi desert would be a dry heat.

[Frans 776]

As I myself, when on holidays, can manage to access the internet from whatever backwater campsite I end up at, I was just wondering where Derek must be spending his holidays...

[Hive 607]

Eh. I don't think it's fair to be expecting someone to be posting while they're on break.

 

That being said, a "Hey, I'm gonna be gone for a bit, here's when I'll be back" would have been nice, since this is a thread he said he'd be giving us frequent updates in.

[Mathhammer 59]

On 5/10/2017 at 3:48 AM, Spartan Derek said:

The new SRS Rules flow into being a tactical part of the game without them dominating. With the testers moving at pace I am know turning my attention to the statists for repair ships+repair craft, medical ships/med-shuttles and assault ships+assault boats - the original intent was to leave these vessels and SRS out of the core rules and bring them in out in the first supplement scheduled for early next year...but with the testers moving forwards at pace, I am inclined to add them in anyway!

These really need to be in the base rules as a lot of the mainline ships have wings and most players use SRS tokens.

 

On 5/10/2017 at 3:48 AM, Spartan Derek said:

• The new Boarding rules are testing well, and despite there being no more capturing/prizing in the game, the pace of boarding hasn't slowed down. Strike Teams can potentially attack any location on a ship now, allowing them to cripple targets ready for the kill shot later...which is much more thematic I feel.

 

I would not mind seeing boarding limited to assault ships, makes no sense for all ships to have boarding craft.

 

On 5/10/2017 at 3:48 AM, Spartan Derek said:

Movement - As mentioned previously, I left the proposed changes to the Movement System out of the FSA synopsis. I

 

I have taught 10 year olds the current movement system. All it takes is a decent template and it all works. Really hope the changes are minor.

 

[S.Derek 845]

Hi all

Back from me holidayz.....

And I would remind you I am a volunteer the same as anyone else at Spartan, so if you expect me to post when I am away taking a break with the family, you can kiss my bum!  .....My priorities are elsewhere.

 

 

upon my return however, I have caught up with the Beta Team and am pleased with their progress so far. We have all core rules in place, all core-6stats are in testing format and things are well on track for completion. Futher statistics are in place too, with all existing faction now in template, along with the Saurian Enclave and Omega-Strain Pathogen. These will be rolled out to the Beta Teams in the next few days, once I am happy the testing has hit its required degree of game coverage.

 

Rules-Wise:

Movement is set, as are rules for Ranged Fire, Boarding, SRS and the End Phase.

The Command Points system is stable, with no outstanding problems on points spend and availability. I am happy with the resource management part of the game, with a good spread of Command Point purchase being used by betas in their tests - some have gone big on Command Points, some have gone small...with gameplay and personal choice being the determinant. In Competitive Play, the Command Point system will be a very interesting and important part of Fleet Creation as it will obviously be set before the event.....meaning proper testing of a Fleet prior to a tourney will be critical. With all fleets being on the tables, knowing your tipping point for CP will become as important as having a predetermined Deployment method, or 1st and 2nd turn activation order (both important things to consider in comp-games).

The new Critical Hit Table and embedded Sub-systems Critical Table is also stable, with results that cover non-effects now registering a detrimental effect too - Dindrenzi Ships with no Cloaking System or Shield Array now take a Disorder Marker on the Defences Offline Result, for example.

Token Count has dropped to just 6 Effect Markers, with Damage and Crew Loss being marked with dice....since everyone was doing it anyways! I am discussing with Neil the possibility of a bespoke FA-die that further removes any need for cardboard on the table, but we will see on that....lol.... he likes his tokens....

The final area for design and test is the scenario structure for competitive play which will be led by Josh and his team. Our expectation is to present a 6-scenario table which covers 2xOpposed Play Games, 2xObjective Capture Games, and 2xEscalation Games. By doing this, we hope to encourage balanced fleet building where competitive players will be tested across a tight spread of game types with suitable variation within those games to build expansive and flexible fleets.

 

Moving forwards, I still have to complete the Campaign System for Firestorm Armada, which will include gaming maps, system exploration, resource management, off-table auto resolution of battles, espionage, diplomacy, etc..... but that shouldn't take too long, since we have been using the game-mechanisms in the Design Team for a few years now (mostly to give us a spicy reason to put models down on the table!)... I'll follow up on that in my next data burst!

 

As mentioned above, all in moving at a good pace.

I am working to an internal deadline for FSA, which I am confident we will hit with time to spare (which helps!).

Then  it will be over to Neil and his team to do the text-pour, graphical layout, etc.

After that, I will come back to the game in its book format and suggest diagram tweaks, example clarification etc.

Then it will be ready to go out to everyone!

 

As we move forwards, the design team (Me, Spartan Josh, Spartan Linde, Spartan Gibson) will be building new fleets and plan to do a mini-blog series to explain our rationale. This should give folks an idea of where our thinking (post all the testing we have done) is going. I am currently swithering as to which Fleet to build. I have always played Terrans (in both FSA and FSPF....although I also have a Sorylian Collective force in FSPF!).... I am thinking about something new and quite like the look of the Directorate Mediums and Smalls....so will likely go for them (running the rule-of-cool) rather than for any gameplay reasons). This should give me a good voyage of discovery in their nuances, as well as allowing me to get my hands on the awesome-lookin' Works Raptor!

 

Cheers

d

 

 

.

[Hive 607]

I guess that confirms that the new 2-player starter will echo the PF2.0 stater then. Little sad that my spidey-boys aren't getting any starter box love, more so that the lizards aren't- the new rules may fix the Falx, but a good percentage of Sorylian players have been waiting a whole edition for some alternative.

 

...er. This may be a dumb question, particularly this late in the thread, but... What actually defines a strain of Pathogen? 

[DELETED 9]

24 minutes ago, Spartan Derek said:

And I would remind you I am a volunteer the same as anyone else at Spartan, so if you expect me to post when I am away taking a break with the family, you can kiss my bum!  .....My priorities are elsewhere.

I understand your point, but is this the way to say it? And you were the one to say you would give weekly updates, no-one else. This does not give me a good feeling, or make me want to read the rest oif the post

[S.Derek 845]

There are two clear strains of Pathogen at present (under the new background being written up by Neil and Franco)

Omega-Strain Pathogen are represented by their evolution into full entities that can exist in space having completely rewritten the structure of the subsumed vessel with the pathogen matrix.

The Gamma-strain Pathogen are similar to the vessels some folks have converted previously (ie, Dindrenzi Cruisers with gribbly-bitz on them, etc!).

 

These two fleets combine in the same way as a Terran/Hawker Industries Fleet would, but present different gameplay styles. This allows pathogen players to be creative with their conversions while also building a clearly Omega Pathogen fleet.

 

d

[S.Derek 845]

Grow up Archer12.

 

We are all getting a bit tired of your persistent negativity.

Move on. Be happy. Express positivity.

[DELETED 9]

7 hours ago, Spartan Derek said:

Grow up Archer12.

 

We are all getting a bit tired of your persistent negativity.

Move on. Be happy. Express positivity.

This is the way a developer treats concerns of a customer? Ok, I go to GW for new 8th Edition Warhammer 40k. Goodbye!

 

[Flamebeast 169]

7 hours ago, Spartan Derek said:

Grow up Archer12.

 

We are all getting a bit tired of your persistent negativity.

Move on. Be happy. Express positivity.

Concerned customer = childish putdown. Apparently this is the new Spartan customer relations handbook, ladies and gentlemen.

Seriously, how does this company even still exist with such an absence of business acumen?

[hardygun 24]

@Archer12 and Flamebeast

Guys this is getting a little silly.  

As someone whose life regularly gets devoured by work; I totally agree that Spartan Derek should expect not to have anything to do with work while he is on vacation.  The most we should have expected was a heads up that there wouldn't be any communication during that time, but it is not something we should expect.  We are not part of Spartan and have no right to be informed about every operational decision made within the company.

As to Archer12's post that received a mild reprimand:  You were being childish.  How else would you describe someone taking offense to another person pointing out that they would not work while on vacation and then summarily dismissing the rest of their update because of it?  You seem to have fallen into the common trap of assigning more emotion to the written word than intended.  Spartan Derek's statement does seem harsh, until you take note of the smilies that are meant to fill in for the missing body language that would temper the words used.

Flamebeast's post is little better.  Calling a spade a spade is apparently a "childish putdown" and justifies calling into question the existence of the company.  

Ever since Spartan started talking to us again, a rather vocal minority has been giving them grief on these boards at the slightest provocation.  It is reasonable to be concerned, considering Spartan's past record of over-promising and long silences when those promises are broken. But; it is not reasonable to express those concerns in the form of put-downs and attacks.

We all likely want the same thing.  We want the new edition of the games we enjoy to be the best edition we've had to date.  Let's all just take a deep breath, exhibit some patience, and try to express ourselves in a constructive manner when we post here.  After all, you'll catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar!

 

[Aetius88 12]

Flamers snd fanboys only destroy games, so personally I prefer that people like archer 12 goes to destroy other games, like 40k xD. Opinions and criticism shoul be welcome, but always in a constructive way. Instead of "I dont have good feelings about that" which says absolutely nothing useful, people should say "I think it could be a better system to this, such this idea:..." This helps to improve the game, the other option just confirm the bad attitude and flaming&nerd spirit of the author

[Flamebeast 169]

1 hour ago, hardygun said:

@Archer12 and Flamebeast

Guys this is getting a little silly.  

1. As someone whose life regularly gets devoured by work; I totally agree that Spartan Derek should expect not to have anything to do with work while he is on vacation.  The most we should have expected was a heads up that there wouldn't be any communication during that time, but it is not something we should expect.  We are not part of Spartan and have no right to be informed about every operational decision made within the company.

As to Archer12's post that received a mild reprimand:  You were being childish.  How else would you describe someone taking offense to another person pointing out that they would not work while on vacation and then summarily dismissing the rest of their update because of it?  You seem to have fallen into the common trap of assigning more emotion to the written word than intended.  Spartan Derek's statement does seem harsh, until you take note of the smilies that are meant to fill in for the missing body language that would temper the words used.

2. Flamebeast's post is little better.  Calling a spade a spade is apparently a "childish putdown" and justifies calling into question the existence of the company.  

3. Ever since Spartan started talking to us again, a rather vocal minority has been giving them grief on these boards at the slightest provocation.  It is reasonable to be concerned, considering Spartan's past record of over-promising and long silences when those promises are broken. But; it is not reasonable to express those concerns in the form of put-downs and attacks.

4. We all likely want the same thing.  We want the new edition of the games we enjoy to be the best edition we've had to date.  Let's all just take a deep breath, exhibit some patience, and try to express ourselves in a constructive manner when we post here.  After all, you'll catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar!

 

1. Totally agree that holiday time is valid. However, the *minimum* we should expect when told we would be getting weekly updates is that we wouldn't be getting one for *insert period of time here*. It's another failure of communication by Spartan to add to the pre-existing laundry list, and I'm reasonably confident that this is what Archer was irritated by (and Derek's statement of "you can kiss my bum", obviously - tongue in cheek or not, that's both uncalled for and unprofessional).

2. Yeah, phrase it how you like - we've been calling a spade a spade (i.e. publicly being skeptical of a company with a long list of failures being able to turn that around by applying the same personnel to the same situations). Derek's response isn't acceptable as a representative for a company, paid or otherwise, and he's been with Spartan long enough to know that's true.

3. I think you mean "continuing" record of over-promising and long silences when promises are broken. The Dystopian Wars kickstarter is now, what, 3 months overdue?

4. Yes, we do want the new edition of the game to be the best we've ever had, but some of the publicly discussed changes are already threatening that possibility. For example, taking away capturing ships kills Pathogen (barring the introduction of some hithertofore-undiscussed special rule where they can still capture), and literally every boarding build in the game (Cyber/Bio Directorate, Assault Terquai, some Sorylian builds as decent examples). That's an awful lot of fleet diversity lost to one decision, and I'm pretty sure we can all agree that losing fleet diversity can only hurt the game in the long run.

[Xerkics 98]

I think its safe to say we are all concerned. My group especially is wary of buying any more models in case we get shafted in the new rules. This long period of uncertainty isnt helped by lack of more regular updates.

[Pathogen 151]

WAIT WHAT?

 

If Archer 12 liked any of my posts and then deleted his account, do I lose his likes?

I gotta know...

[WestAustralian 818]

It's ok @Pathogen, I will help you out with some more likes.

notifying the community prior to leave would have been appropriate. That is a common business practice. But it's not the end of the world. 

Flamers be gone.... Go to whatever Game and Forum makes you happy, I wish you all well. 

I really hope Spartan can make good with this next release, and follow up with Years of consistent releases and updates. Decent People, Great Miniatures, Fun Game, deserves some Love. 

Now everybody Hug and start getting along.

Thanks for the great update and I look forward to seeing your Directorate Fleet @Spartan Derek, and their WR allies. Very Awesome Miniatures. Also the OSO is another line of Awesome Allies. Great to hear things are on track

[CoreHunter 326]

After going over the planetfall changes I have zero expectations of this game going over well.

Planetfall goes to 4 range bands but not even range bands just randomize bands so you have to check for every unit each time it shoots. Unnecessary delays and backwards development considering armada did away with this for reasons.

Placed shots not being addressed in a serious manner as it has been brought up pre development of the new addition as well as during development as a bad thing. Now nearly every playtest batrep hails some issue with it is not surprising. What do we get? Nothing at all working as intended. Really hearing the players on these changes.

I too will be going to 40k for 8th and shelving Spartan temporarily unless placed make it in to Ramada then I will be selling quiet a bit of terrans for cheap. If anyone wants contact me after the edition drop sometime next month? year? Hellfroze over.